The First Female Knight
by Starlight01234
Summary: A girl goes against the norm, and aspires to become a knight.


Ch.1 New Orders  
"I refuse to train a girl!" he said jumping from his seat and slamming his hands down on the table. Lord Milles' face contorted with anger, his knuckles whitened, his hands tightly gripped the gold rimmed edge of the table. King Jonathan merely lifted an eyebrow at the training master's outburst, and gave him a stern warning glare to control himself, before continuing with his news.  
"A girl she may be, but there is not a law that states, that there cannot be female knights," he said calmly.  
Milles opened his mouth to protest, but was promptly cut off as the king continued.  
"There is no reason to make a law, just to please you. So, I want no arguments from you! Got it?!"  
Milles clenched his teeth, with a scowl on his face, which was similar to the look a young child might give to their mother when they are told to clean their room. Calming down, Lord Milles took his seat, and in moments thought of something else to say that might emphasize his distaste of the situation.  
"She shall get no special treatment! She will have to do everything a regular trainee would do, including pass her first year test," he said, with a grin on his face because he knew he had won this one.  
Jonathan replied stiffly with a sigh. He was eager to have the meeting over with.  
"Yes, she shall have her own room, study, work, and train just like any of the others. Now, once she passes her test, she shall gain her shield and leave. You'll only have her for a year, so quit your belly-aching!"  
In a gesture that enough had been said, King Jonathan stood and walked briskly from the hall, leaving Lord miles to round up the second years, for the arrival of all the new trainees.  
Ch. 2 Mina's Arrival  
Two days later, about mid day, Mina stepped through the smooth, double oak doors of the hall, her belongings weighing down her arms. The extraordinarily large room was filled with young boys of twelve to thirteen years of age, all sitting slightly cramped, at three large tables. Within moments of her arrival, a couple of the boys spotted her and the news of her arrival spread like a disease through the room. Soon muffled whispers of, "It's the girl!", could be heard amongst the commotion. Mina showed no outward response to the comment, and kept a stern, emotionless face, as she had been taught by her brother, in her homeland, the Silvanesti Islands. Her older brother had already gone through his training to be a knight and now protected the Kingdom's northern border from invading armies. Even now, she remembered quite clearly the advice he had given her about her first year at this training center,  
"Always keep a straight face. Never show any emotion or the others will use it against you."  
Turning her attention back to the room, now humming with laughter and talking, she noticed most of the boys gave her looks of distaste when she gazed in their direction. Soon though, much to Mina's relief, a maid came to help her with her bags and led her upstairs to her room, one of many, all side by side down one walkway.  
As the maid turned the handle and swung the door open, she let out a small gasp. The room was in tatters! The bed was overturned. The beautiful gold and scarlet covers, had been thrown from it and ripped beyond repair. A bookcase had also been torn from the wall, it's contents strewn across the floor. The soft rug covering the stone floor was soaked in water from the smashed basin laying in pieces on top of it. Dirt that had once been in potted plants on the window sill, had been dumped into her washtub and covered the floor. The most shocking thing in the room though, was bright words smeared across the wall in red paint. The vandals had chosen to leave a few words as a finishing touch to their destruction. Some of the less vile words read, "Leave! Go home little girl! You won't survive a week here!"  
The maid quickly recovered from the shock of the mess, and began to clean the room. She grabbed a cloth sack and started placing the broken pieces of pottery into it. Mina stared at the mess a moment longer, before slightly grinning at the boy's futile attempt to get rid of her. Silently, she set down her bags and began collecting the fallen books, before setting the shelf up against the wall once again.  
The last book collected, she set them all on the shelf and grabbed a wet rag the maid had set aside. Mina moved over to the paint covered wall, and began to scrub at the words. She scrubbed till her hands were raw, but the paint refused to come off. Finally, with a sigh of exasperation and defeat, she gave up. The paint, still as bright as ever, clung to the wall and defied her.  
By the time she had given up on the paint, the maid had finished cleaning the room, and everything was back in order. The maid nodded politely as she left, and Mina shut the door behind her. Taking a moment to get a good look at the room, Mina's gaze once again rested on the words.  
"I will not let them get to me!" she said to herself.   
Knowing she had better things to do, she turned from the wall, and set to unpacking her things. In an hour, they would be called from their rooms to be chosen by a second year mage. The older student, would help the younger find their way around and guide them through their studies.  
Mina did not carry much. What little she did though, consisted of various changes of clothing, mostly breeches and tunics. Because her mother had insisted, she also had one dress which she usually wore only to special occasions, and that was only if she was forced to. Mina also carried with her, stationary, a quill and ink, and one weapon, her glave. The glave was a traditional Silvanesti blade that consisted of a long, heavy, wooden pole reinforced with steel in the center, and an extremely sharp, half moon shaped blade at one end.  
As Mina removed it from it's protective wrappings, she checked it over for damage, before setting it gently against the wall. Having finished unpacking, she filled a new wash basin with water from a pitcher, and began washing her face. As she dried her face off, she noticed a round, flat piece of polished silver hanging on the wall. Having little time, and no patience to properly comb her hair, she glanced into the mirror and pulled back a few damp strands of her shortly cropped, dirty blonde hair from her face, tucking them behind her ears. Long summers spent in the islands had tanned her skin a soft almond but now it was beginning to pale as Autumn came to a close and Winter tightened it's chilling grip on the countryside. She smiled looking at her reflection, her mother had always loved her deep reddish-brown eyes, probably because they looked so much like her father's.  
As thoughts of her mother began to arise, Mina began to wonder if she should wear that dress her mother had insisted on her bringing, just to spite the boys. Thinking better of it, she changed into a fresh training tunic and breeches. Thoughts of her family still preoccupied her thoughts though, and she sat down with her stationary, quill and ink at ready, and began writing her first letter of many.  
Within ten minutes of her sitting down at her desk, a knock came at her door, and young man's voice could be heard, telling Mina it was time for the selection. Sighing, she set down her quill, and put the lid on her ink well, leaving the half finished letter on her desk. Mina stepped outside her room and slowly shut the door, not wanting to make unnecessary noise. All the first years were standing in front of their doors, looking as polite and composed as they could be. She caught on quickly, and straightened her stature, gaze forward.  
Within moments, Lord Milles came walking up the stairs. The second years trailed behind him. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and spoke loudly, so it was sure that all would hear.  
"Greetings all first years. I am Lord Milles, your training master at this castle. First and foremost, you shall give me your utmost respect and obey all commands you receive from me. If you fail to follow the rules, there will be punishment. The second years behind me, will each choose one of you as their companion and show you the ropes."   
His address finished, he stepped back, and the second years moved forward, taking their time picking their students. Mina scanned the faces of the mages, and stopped at one who was apparently, staring at her.   
The bright blonde, handsome, young man had a not so pleasant grin on his face, and a mischievous look in his eye. This immediately made her wary of him, and she put on her Silvanesti face, continuing to look around as if she hadn't even noticed he was there.  
Slowly, each of the mages picked a student, and led them down the steps and outside. Soon, she was the only student left, and all the second years had gone. Lord Milles walked toward her from his position at the far wall, and placed his hands behind his back.  
"It appears that there weren't enough young men for all of this year's new students. So, I will be your guide for the time being. The others have left down to the training field, follow me," he said before turning and walking down the hall towards the stairs. He did not look back once. Mina obediently followed along like a puppy on a leash, and Lord Milles continued down the stairs.  
When they reached the castle grounds, the other first years were already in padded clothing and working on hand to hand combat. A fierce looking young woman was barking commands and explaining moves, as Mina strapped on padded clothing and got in line with the others.  
She soon learned from a trainee next to her, that the new teacher was Lady Seri, from one of the distant lands where women commonly became knights and fought for the safety of their country. She specialized in using the long combat pole, and special fighting moves used when not given the option of a weapon.  
At the moment, she had chosen two of Mina's classmates, and was using them as an example of how to throw your opponent if grabbed from behind. Everyone watched intently, as she took the boy named, Cedric, and ordered him to run up and try to pin her. When he did, she easily tossed him over her knee and onto the ground, where he landed with a loud thud. Many flinched when he hit the ground. They could only guess how much that must have hurt. He would be feeling that one for a while.  
Lady Seri then set up two stations; one for wrestling, and the other for the use of the pole. Most of the young men were interested in the wrestling, but Mina followed a smaller group to the pole area. Here, Lady Seri was stationed moving through difficult pattern movements with the long pole in hand. As Mina lined up to wait her turn, she smiled knowing she would have an advantage in this field from her training with the heavy glave. This was her chance to prove she was just as good, if not better than the boys.  
"Any volunteers?" Lady Seri asked stiffly, holding out two poles.  
Mina jumped at the chance, as well as one other, the blonde haired Mage she had seen earlier. Mina glanced at him and noticed he had that same, maniacal grin on his face. She most definitely didn't like this one.  
"Might I get your names? Lady Seri asked impatiently, breaking the unnerving silence.  
"Mark, your ladyship," he replied quickly with a bow and a smirk in Mina's direction.  
Mina glared, but replied quickly, "Beg your pardon m'lady, I'm Mina."   
Lady Seri gave a half smile and handed them both their poles. She then stepped back.   
"Let's see what you already know. Go ahead and start," she said folding her arms across her chest.  
With that, they began to circle each other. Or rather, Mark circled her. He had the look in his eyes, of that of a predator, waiting for the right moment to pounce on it's prey. Mina watched his movements carefully. One thing was for sure, he was no amateur, but he still left his left side wide open for attack. Mina took her chance, and landed a hard blow to his lower left ribs, with the end of her pole. She then quickly jumped back as he recovered and advanced once again. Mark charged full force at her, and missed as she stepped to the side, but wheeled back around and got her in the back. She realized then, that he fought dirty, even at the risk of being caught and punished. He also used mainly brute force, and very little thought went into his attacks.   
As Mina regained her footing, the thought came to her of intimidation. Making it look as if she hadn't even felt the blow, she began moving through a fast paced battle dance which looked often much more imposing than it actually was. The pole spun rapidly in her hands. The pole creating a whistling sound as it cut through the air in intricate patterns. Mark stepped back. He had an astonished look on his face. It was beyond him as to how he could possibly get past the shield of the rapidly spinning pole.  
As Mina advanced on the awestruck Mage, Lady Seri barked a command for her to stand down. Mina smiled, and stopped her pole on a dime. The end of the pole dug into the ground. With an unspoken sigh of relief, Mark stood tall and proud as if he could have beaten her even if Lady Seri hadn't broken in.  
Having waved Mark off to join the others, Lady Seri pulled Mina to the side.  
"I see you have had some prior training Miss Mina," she commented looking partially interested.  
"Yes m'lady, I have," Mina said quietly.   
"Where are you from young one, and speak up would you?"  
"The tropical Silvanesti Islands." she said a bit louder.  
"Ah, the glave, I see," Lady Seri said with a grin. "I have visited your isles before, and held the blade your people like so much. It is quite an impressive weapon, but mind you, there are subtle but important differences between using a glave and long pole."  
Mina nodded in compliance, and Lady Seri continued after a long pause.  
"I shall expect to see you out here every morning working on that. You may go now," she said taking Mina's pole from her, and walking back towards the group of boys.  
With a uneasy smile, she followed and the lessons continued.  
Ch.3 The first Mission  
  
Months passed, and the seasons changed as the first years moved swiftly through their training. It was now late spring, and the trainees moaned less about fingers too numb from the cold to write. In those few months, they had learned how to shoot a bow, dine properly, about the history of great battles won and lost, advanced mathematics, jousting, and complex battle strategies as well as numerous other subjects. The classes lasted all day from six in the morning till five at night, five days a week, rain or shine. They weren't easy, and the scholars expected much from their students. This often ment, long nights spent in the library toiling over misunderstood homework.  
Mina was one of the many that could be found at midnight, weary eyed, scrabbling to finish that last bit of work, but she excelled. Most of her teachers were very pleased with her, except for Lord Leon, her math teacher. Math had always been a problem for her and she found it hard to concentrate in class. Lord Leon was still very kind though, and took time out of class to help her, till she finally got over the problem.  
One morning, after a late night of studying, Mina was awoken by a loud rapping on her door and an order to pack and get ready to leave for the Caldai Forest to the north. There, the first years would be going on a mission to map an unexplored part of the rebel occupied land. Here, they would also hope to disband a large group of the rebels that had holed themselves up somewhere in the area.  
She sat up reluctantly as her body complained from lack of sleep. Looking to the window, her eyes adjusting to the dim light. She could see that the sun was still not up, merely a small slit, like someone had sliced into the fabric of the sky with a knife. The air smelled wet and damp, indicating a small shower had come and gone in the early hours of the morning. This would mean wet feet, and worse, wet bags if she wasn't careful.  
Mina pulled on a new pair of breeches, a tunic, and a thick vest. She couldn't seem to find her good boots, and she dug around frantically, before remembering she had left them by the door. She walked over and slipped them on, all the while chiding herself for not remembering where she had left them.  
It didn't take her long to pack. She was out the door of her room, and at the front gate earlier than she had expected. All the first years were there with their second year guides, and the horse they had received earlier in the year. Mina had also received hers, the one nobody wanted. He was a very feisty, chestnut colored yearling who bit anyone who got too close. He was actually very intelligent. You could see it in his eyes, when he got a good yelp out of someone after biting them. It seemed, he enjoying teasing people. Mina though, for some unknown reason, he trusted. He usually obeyed her and became very protective.  
Mina took her horse's reigns from a very nervous stable boy's hand, as he darted out of the yearlings reach. She smiled as she rested a hand on the horse's neck.  
"Already causing trouble Foxfire?" she asked teasingly. "You really should be nicer you know."  
He nodded his head as if he understood, and she strapped her packs to his back. She then climbed on, and led him to his place in line next to Lord Milles, at the head of the traveling party.  
Once the group got moving, she kept quiet and concentrated on keeping Foxfire from chewing on the packs of the person in front of her. The ride took till nightfall, and they camped in a small clearing next to a brook. Everyone mostly kept to themselves. Even Mark didn't make his usual dirty comment as they passed each other on the way to their separate tents. It seemed that the ride had taken it's toll on the men, and lights out came very early that evening.  
The next morning, Mina woke to shouts and the sound of metal clashing against metal. They were being attacked by the group of bandits they had been searching for! Late in the night, the watch guard had fallen asleep, and the bandits had been able to surround the group and attack the unknowing members at daybreak.  
She jumped from her covers already dressed, having collapsed with exhaustion before she could undress the night before. Knowing her pole and other weapons were in a tent on the other side of camp, she grabbed her glave, and checked she had clearance before escaping from the confines of her tent.  
Battles raged everywhere, and the king's side was loosing. The bandits pressed down hard having about a third more fighters. None of the trainees had fallen yet but they were being quickly pushed back.   
Mina jumped into battle, cutting down three to four men in one swipe. Her blade flashed in the sunlight as she fought with no mercy. One bandit ran up a rock incline and she followed. As soon as she made it to the top though, she made the mistake of looking down. Her head spun, and her knees became weak with fear. Mina had forgotten about her extreme fear of heights in the rush of the battle, and now shook with fear as her world spun.  
The bandit saw his chance, and attacked. Mina turned around just in time to block the attack. She struggled a moment trying to push him back, still thinking of the huge drop to the side.  
"You have got to forget about your fear!" she screamed inside at herself.  
With that, she threw him off and he fell screaming over the edge. Eager to get down, she descended to find the group had once again fallen back. Seeing as their forces were still to weak to fight full force, she jumped into battle and held off the bandits as the group ran into the forest.  
Mina still needed to draw back though, and she pulled out a bottle full of a strange liquid, throwing it on the ground in front of her. The magic liquid ignited, encircling the bandits long enough for her to escape into the forest and find the others. Here, she lined up the archers and they watched, and waited till the fire died down. When it did, they began shooting a wave of arrows at the enemy.  
In moments, all were dead and a cheer went up in the ranks. Mina smiled, relieved that was over. She was extremely surprised, as a couple of the second years hoisted her onto their shoulders, and preceded to carry her back to camp, shouting, "Mina! Mina!," all the way.  
When the procession reached camp, she was finally set down and celebrations lasted late into the afternoon. Mina was dragged to and fro, not getting even a moments rest. When it was all finally over, she relaxed into a chair with a sigh, truly appreciating the silence for once. Within moments though, Lord Milles strode over, a very large smile on his face.  
"You performed amazingly out there Mina! There shall be no need for you to take the test. This more than doubles the requirements needed to pass. You may leave for Dunlap Castle in the morning to receive your shield." he said clapping a hand on her shoulder and turning away. Mina stared at the spot he had been standing on only moments before, in shock. She had actually passed! She would be the first female knight ever!  
Resisting the urge to jump and shout for joy, she crawled into her tent and began packing for her next big adventure.  
  
The End 


End file.
